Hello,
OONI's Leonid published a post today which explains how to mine OONI
data via Amazon S3 buckets and other sources:
https://ooni.torproject.org/post/mining-ooni-data/
As you may already know, OONI data is publicly available via OONI
Explorer and the OONI API (https://ooni.torproject.org/data/), but these
resources currently present various limitations.
If you're interested in downloading the full batch of raw OONI data
faster, you can do so via the ooni-data Amazon S3 bucket. The post
provides instructions and examples of extracting OONI data from Amazon
S3 buckets.
Instead of downloading all OONI data, you may find it useful to work
with a metadata database to identify the subset of measurements that you
want to download for further processing. In this case, you can get a
PostgreSQL database dump and run SQL queries on it.
Learn more through the post. Happy mining!
--
Maria Xynou
Research and Partnerships Coordinator
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hello,
The OONI team warmly welcomes you to join us next week for our monthly
community meeting.
Where: https://slack.openobservatory.org/ (OONI Slack channel)
When: Tuesday, 30th January 2018 at 14:00 UTC (for 1 hour)
We'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on how we can improve
our tools and research methodologies.
Please add topics that you would like to discuss as part of the meeting
in this pad: https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting
If you're not able to join us, please feel encouraged to join us on
Slack or IRC any other day!
Looking forward to connecting with you soon!
All the best,
~ The OONI team.
--
Maria Xynou
Research and Partnerships Coordinator
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hello Oonitarians,
The latest release of the OONI Probe mobile apps includes 3 new tests:
1. WhatsApp test: https://ooni.torproject.org/nettest/whatsapp/
2. Facebook Messenger test:
https://ooni.torproject.org/nettest/facebook-messenger/
3. Telegram test: https://ooni.torproject.org/nettest/telegram/
These tests are designed to measure the blocking of WhatsApp, Facebook
Messenger, and Telegram.
They were already included in the desktop versions of OONI Probe (Linux
and macOS), but now they have also been integrated in the mobile
versions as well (Android and iOS). This means that you can easily run
these tests with the tap of a button (literally) via the OONI Probe
mobile apps!
WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are frequently blocked in many countries
around the world, while Telegram was recently blocked in Iran.
By running these tests, you can collect network measurement data showing
which ISPs block these apps, how, when, and where. If you're an Android
user, consider enabling the "Run tests automatically" option in the
settings for automatic daily testing.
You can install the OONI Probe mobile apps via the following links:
* Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.openobservatory.ooniprobe
* iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id1199566366
Happy to address any questions.
Cheers,
Maria.
--
Maria Xynou
Research and Partnerships Coordinator
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hello friends,
Happy new year! Wish you all the very best for 2018 (and all the
other years to come).
As the end of 2017 approached, we published a blog post summarizing some
OONI highlights from 2017: https://ooni.torproject.org/post/ooni-in-2017/
Many of these things wouldn't have been possible without the
measurements you collect, the test lists you review, the research
reports you contribute to, the feedback you provide, and your tireless
community engagement efforts. So on behalf of the OONI team, I would
like to warmly THANK YOU all for everything!
We have exciting things coming up for 2018 and we hope to collaborate
with you on them. These are listed in the aforementioned blog post, and
include:
1. *New OONI Probe desktop apps for Windows and macOS:* Our aim is to
build desktop apps
<https://ooni.torproject.org/post/writing-a-modern-cross-platform-desktop-ap…> that
are as easy to install and use as popular software, enabling more
communities to engage with censorship measurement research.
2. *Censorship Alert System:* We aim aim to disseminate timely alerts
of emergent censorship events around the world through the analysis
of OONI data.
3. *Internet Blackout Monitoring methodology:* We’ll be creating
a methodology
<https://ooni.torproject.org/post/examining-internet-blackouts/> for
automatically detecting and examining internet blackouts (i.e. when
the internet as a whole is rendered inaccessible),
supporting #KeepItOn <https://www.accessnow.org/keepiton/> and other
advocacy efforts.
4. *OONI Probe Orchestration System (OPOS):* Dynamically instrumenting
<https://github.com/TheTorProject/ooni-spec/blob/master/opos/OONI-Probe-Orch…> the
collection of OONI Probe measurements from around the world,
particularly in response to emergent censorship events.
5. *Revamped OONI Explorer:* We’ll be revamping OONI Explorer
<https://explorer.ooni.torproject.org/world/> to improve upon its
design and usability, enable the export of CSV files, and to present
the top censorship findings per country based on OONI data (which
will automatically be updated on an ongoing basis).
6. *Revamped mobile apps:* We’ll be revamping the OONI Probe mobile
apps <https://ooni.torproject.org/install/> to improve upon their
design and usability, and to include more tests.
7. *Revamped OONI website:* We’ll also be revamping the OONI website
<https://ooni.torproject.org/> to improve upon its design and
usability and to include more content pages.
8. *Research reports:* We’re eager to work with you to publish more
research reports on internet censorship.
We'll be reaching out to you for specific feedback and involvement, but
for now, I just wanted to share a brief overview.
Feedback is always appreciated, and happy to address any questions you
may have.
Looking forward to an exciting year!
Cheers,
Maria.
--
Maria Xynou
Research and Partnerships Coordinator
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hi,
OONI just published a report on the analysis of network measurements
collected from (7 networks in) Iran over the last week, confirming the
blocking of Telegram, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger.
This report is available here:
https://ooni.torproject.org/post/2018-iran-protests/
OONI data shows that Iranian ISPs started blocking access to Telegram
and Instagram on 31st December 2017 by means of DNS and TCP blocking.
Irancell (AS44244) however only started blocking access to these
services on 2nd January 2018.
Facebook Messenger was already blocked (by means of DNS tampering),
independently from the recent protests. We previously reported on the
blocking of Facebook Messenger in our last Iran report:
https://ooni.torproject.org/post/iran-internet-censorship/
OONI data shows that WhatsApp is accessible in all tested networks in Iran.
Tor Metrics show a spike in Tor usage in Iran on 31st December 2017
(most likely in response to the blocking of Telegram and Instagram), but
a sudden drop thereafter, indicating an increased blocking of the Tor
network.
OONI data corroborates Tor Metrics and suggests that Iranian ISPs
started throttling access to the Tor network on 31st December. Some ISPs
started blocking access to the Tor network on 1st January. But the Tor network appeared to be blocked in all networks
(where measurements were collected) in Iran on 2nd January 2018.
To circumvent the censorship, we recommend the use of obfs4 bridges (particularly since bridge
reachability tests show that they work). We will continue to monitor
the situation.
If you're interested in reproducing these findings in Iran, you can do
so by running OONI Probe: https://ooni.torproject.org/install/
All network measurement data is made publicly available:
https://ooni.torproject.org/data/
All the best,
Maria.
--
Maria Xynou
Research and Partnerships Coordinator
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hello,
As you probably already know, OONI Probe is a tool for investigations
and may therefore pose some potential risks (depending on your threat
model, where you run the software, which tests you run, what you test,
etc.). Information about these potential risks is available through our
documentation here: https://ooni.torproject.org/about/risks/
Today, thanks to the translation provided by Derechos Digitales, we
published the Spanish translation of this documentation:
https://ooni.torproject.org/es/about/risks/
All the best,
Maria.
--
Maria Xynou
Research and Partnerships Coordinator
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hello again :)
Earlier this month OONI was presented at two conferences in Chile:
LAVITS and Primavera Hacker.
Find the slides, and learn all about it here:
https://ooni.torproject.org/post/ooni-lavits-phacker-2017/
Cheers,
Maria.
--
Maria Xynou
Research and Partnerships Coordinator
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hello Oonitarians,
Today we published an updated version of our test list documentation,
which is available here:
https://ooni.torproject.org/get-involved/contribute-test-lists/
As censorship findings are only as interesting as the sites you test,
contributing to test lists (i.e. machine-readable CSV files containing
URLs tested for censorship) on an ongoing basis is important.
Knowing which sites are commonly accessed and likely to be blocked in a
country (in light of its political environment) requires local
knowledge, which is precisely why test lists are publicly available on
GitHub, encouraging community contributions.
We hope that you will find the updated test list documentation useful.
Happy to address any questions you may have.
All the best,
Maria.
--
Maria Xynou
Research and Partnerships Coordinator
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hello Oonitarians,
Today, in collaboration with Bytes for All Pakistan, we published a
research study titled "How Pakistan blocked news outlets, social media
sites, and IM apps amidst protests".
Our study is available here:
https://ooni.torproject.org/post/how-pakistan-blocked-social-media/ and
http://content.bytesforall.pk/node/224
Last weekend, a number of social media sites and news outlets were
reportedly blocked in Pakistan during Islamist protests.
Through the collection and analysis of OONI network measurements from
Pakistan, we confirmed the DNS-based blocking of:
* 14 news websites
* Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram
* Facebook Messenger, Telegram, WhatsApp's web interface (web.whatsapp.com)
All of these censorship events were temporarily implemented last weekend
(25th & 26th November), and no longer seem to be in place (at least in
the networks where tests were/are run). This highlights the need to
monitor internet censorship on an ongoing basis around the world.
In our previous study with Bytes for All
(https://ooni.torproject.org/post/pakistan-internet-censorship/),
Pakistani ISPs appeared to be applying "smart filters", selectively
blocking the HTTP versions of certain Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter
webpages, rather than blocking access to entire domains.
Last weekend, however, these sites were blocked entirely.
This is also the first time that we have collected technical evidence on
the censorship of news websites in Pakistan.
In addition to network measurement findings, our report also include
censorship circumvention advice and information on how to reproduce this
study (in Pakistan or elsewhere).
Thanks for reading!
~ The OONI team.
--
Maria Xynou
Research and Partnerships Coordinator
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hello Oonitarians!
The OONI team warmly welcomes you to join us**for our *monthly
**community meeting tomorrow**, Tuesday 28th November 2017, at 14:00 UTC.*
We'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on how we can improve
our tools and research methodologies.
Please join us tomorrow on *https://slack.openobservatory.org* and add
topics that you would like to discuss as part of the meeting in this
pad: https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting
If you're not able to join us, please feel encouraged to join us on
slack any other day!
Looking forward to connecting with you soon!
All the best,
~ The OONI team.
--
Maria Xynou
Research and Partnerships Coordinator
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E